Delicious Apricot Olive Oil Tea Cakes

A few days ago one of my favorite neighbors celebrated her 55th birthday. She’s a lovely lady and I love spending afternoons in her little oasis she has as a garden. By profession she is a florist and has often helped me making my little home design bouquets. She is sensational at what she does and has arranged the interior of her house so beautifully I often feel like I am on a mini-vacation when I am there.

She was having a little tea party and had invited several guests. I was very honored to be amongst her carefully picked guests. I was also the youngest. For weeks I had pondered on what I should take along to complement my main present. Flowers – well do you give flowers to a florist?

I finally decided the best thing to do was to give her a little something that came from me. A piece of me – in a matter of speaking. She knows about my hobby and is a passionate reader of this blog. Often telling me that although she enjoys my desserts and cakes the best, she loves this space because I tell such great stories and it’s almost like she is a part of the story.

She has done a lot for me and loves Soeren to bits. I have never actually seen her not smiling. I am sure she even smiles in her sleep.

My idea was to make a few delicate teacakes to show her my appreciation. I wanted it to be something a little different and a bit out of the ordinary, because that’s exactly how she is. She is full of life and vivacious, bringing a bit of sunshine with her where ever she goes. So how do I define all that in a teacake?

I was inspired by the olive oil pound cake from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. Although I have not gotten around to making it in its true form, the flavor of olive oil in a cake intrigued me immensely. I also was not looking for a muffin consistency with these cakes. Although I wanted to bake them in muffin forms to make eloquent individual portions, I wanted something more moist and spongy. I decided to use natural yogurt not only for the moister texture but also that slightly tangy flavor. Apricots gave the tea cakes that final touch of sweetness and epitomized the sunshine my neighbor is for me.

The result was delicious and elegant teacakes with such exquisite flavor that they quickly became the star of the afternoon!

I have used less sugar and of course the olive oil substitutes the butter. This makes the cakes lighter and fluffier in texture. The natural yogurt brings a slightly tangy note to the cake making it a delightful partner for the sweet apricots.

Prepare the muffin tin or forms by brushing with some melted butter and flouring them. Alternatively you can line them with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, olive oil and yogurt into a smooth batter. In several portions incorporate the salt, flour and baking powder into the batter.

Gently fold in the chopped apricots, reserving the quarters for the tops.

Fill the forms with the fruit-batter. Place a quarter apricot on the top. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden or when a wooden toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake, comes out clean.

Notes:

You can use a variety of stone fruit for these teacakes. Try plums, peaches or even other fruit like figs work extremely well.

Serve these warm drizzled with some vanilla pudding for a lovely after meal dessert.

If you like a crunchier texture add a few chopped nuts to the batter. Pecans or pistachios are just perfect.

Verdict

My neighbor loved these teacakes, however I had a bit of a guilty conscience because of all the fuss they created with her guests. See I decided to serve them slightly warm with some thick vanilla sauce and they became addictive. Her guests were constantly asking her for her recipe and she kept sending them to me. I was kind of uncomfortable standing in the middle of the group explaining how I made these. But in the crowd I caught my neighbors eye standing at the back, who winked and smiled at me, lifting her plate to show me that she had managed to grab the last teacake. I love her nonchalance!

I wish you all a great weekend. If you are looking for something to cook this weekend I am sure you'll find several interesting ideas in my recipe book. Looking for something vegetarian? Then check out my latest article at FoodieView where I discuss Vegetarian Specialities and give a few great ideas from across the blogs.

40 comments:

Well, Meeta this totally puts you into the genius category! Those are really stunning. Your neighbor is lucky and smart.I've been looking at a number of recipes with olive oil and am very intrigued with the idea. The apricot is a brilliant addition.

wow, wow!! I adore the idea of the olive oil and tangy yogurt - very mediterranean :) haha, I think all I would need is a sprinkling of some pistachios over that yummy vanilla sauce and I'd be on the next flight to Germany!!

What a lovely friend you are. I can not believe you can still get apricots though. I am half Assyrian and I grew up with homemade yogurt with crushed garlic in it for on top of grape leaf dolma. It is probably something only custom can love but everyone can love yogurt in baked goods. They look wonderful and I love love love the fork. Table settings just thrill me, I would have a hundred sets of dishes and silver if I could.

Exquisite in every way Meeta...beautiful indeed. Lucky neighbour & I do love her non-chalance too. The vanilla sauce really perks it all up. The pictures are full of character...what a nice beginning to my blogging day!

Hi Meeta - I found your blog linked through my high-school friend Shruti, who I think happens to be your cousin, small world! :) I absolutely look forward to reading every story and recipe. I think the beautiful photography and the stories pulled me in! Gorgeous stuff! There's not enough time for me to try all these recipes!

For these tea cakes, can you recommend a fruit other than apricots that I could substitute in? I don't think apricots are in season anymore out here in Seattle.

Tried the recipe in 2 different ways... One by using mixed fruit medley and made muffins out of it and it turned out to be awesome... the second recipe i made was using fresh rasberries , keeping the same batter and it turned out to be amazing as well.

The batter is very soft and spongy and gives a great body to the cake.

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hello, I am Meeta a freelance food photographer, stylist and writer living in the cuturally rich city of Weimar, Germany with my husband and our son, where I enjoy preparing multi-cultural home cooked meals with fresh organic ingredients. What's for lunch, Honey? is my award winning food blog where I combine my love for food with my love for photography and styling...